In November 1999, the Department of Finance at The University of Texas at Austin created the Real Estate Finance and Investment Center, the first program of its type at a major university.

The Center takes advantage of exceptional faculty to cultivate cutting-edge research and curricula on finance-related real estate issues, like the valuation of mortgage-backed securities, the financial structure of real estate investment trusts, the agency issues associated with real estate financing agreements, and the efficiency of real estate investment markets.